Hello everyone. I once again seek the advice of the more experienced out there.

I've been overwintering a few small trees in my fridge over winter. 3, 1 yr old cotoneaster seedlings have come out of dormancy by themselves, so I have no other choice but to put them with my tropicals under my 400w Metal Halide since spring weather is still a ways away. And put them outdoors weather permitting. My question is that I also have a 20 yr old cotoneaster and a chinese elm in the fridge as well. Would it be safe or healthy to bring them out now and give them an artificial early start? I would keep them outdoors as long as the temp. is above freezing and bring them in at night. They've been in cold storage for 4 months so their dormancy requirements have been met. I just dont want to keep them in there any longer then I have too, because it's hard to keep the balance between them drying out and having them too wet for too long (there's a bit of mold on one wich I really dont like to see). I'm just worried that constantly moving them from outdoors to in would be too stressful for them.

I live in an apartment and have limited room. The winters here are too harsh to leave trees in pots just out on my balcony. My larger trees are planted in the ground to protect their roots from temps. below -10, at my friends home in the country, as advised from my local bonsai society.

Trees use daylength as an indicator to break dormancy. However, I have also wintered trees in the refrigerator. In that setting, some of them break dormancy when they reach the required number of chilling hours. If your refrigerated trees are still dormant, leave them there.The trick to overwintering trees in the refrigerator:Put them in damp but not wet.Enclose them in plastic bags, so they won't dry out & won't need watering.Be sure there is nothing in the baggie that will get moldy, no moss, dead leaves, any organic debris.Clean the mold off that tree & dry it a little.Iris

OK, thanks Iris. I'm going to leave them outdoors for today to let them get some fresh air then I'll put them back in tonight. I'll try to do this at least once a week untill they can stay outside full time.

once danger of frost is past you are safe. You can re-plant your trees and leave them somewhere unheated, [ do remember to water them when they need it , okay ] until they bud out and then follow what I do below, with your climate factored in.

April 1st my Hackberrys, Ginkgo, Trident maple and test juniper [ Heh heh Mrs Cohen] will be taken out in the evening as the sun goes down. That way the refrigerator effect wears off and the trees through the night take on the normal air temperature.They are placed in a sheltered area where they get less than 1 hour of earliest morning sun and lots of bright light all day long. No heavy breezes either.

In about 3 to 4 weeks, buds and leaves will follow. I then move them forward into 2 or 3 hours of sun and a week later 4 - 5 hrs. plus, by that time they can handle full sun or for the Trident maple, light shade under my governor cherry tree.

As you might expect, I have no chance of a later frost. So heavy sun and windy conditions are my only problems, easily solved.By late May or so the Hackberrys will be back in the grow troughs until November / December.Best of luck.Khaimraj